Location Data is the Next Big Thing in Hacking, Says Doom and Gloom Report

People who want us to (a) care and (b) be worried about the implications of mobile location tracking say that we should be more protective when it comes to having our phones tell the networks where we are, as this data, if hacked and stolen, could lead to us being blackmailed, kidnapped, hit over the head with pipes and, in a worst case scenario only hinted at in the report, eaten by German sex cannibals.

The actual scaremongering report [PDF] says we're being tracked by over 52,000 mobile phone masts as we go about our business of flopping down between various screens and eating various flavours of crisp, and this data could one day be used by criminals to... we're not sure. Steal things when we're out? Kidnap us and demand incredibly small ransoms from people who won't even notice we're missing for three weeks? Blackmail us because we happened to walk down that street with the prostitutes ten times in one evening?

One of the key reasons it says that location tracking is bad is that it "places your children at risk" because this blatant bit of emotional manipulation infers that -- shock! -- paedos might know when and where children are dropped off at school. Which isn't exactly classified information, as children tend to go to the nearest school at the usual school times.

The report's obvious conclusions are further drawn into doubt by the fact that it spells Vodafone wrong throughout. In short, we're being tracked all of the time and if you're worried about it leave your phone at home, especially if you're off out abducting. [Krowdthink via Guardian]